The present invention relates generally to emergency call systems, and in particular, to an emergency call system for aiding persons in distress, for example, due to medical, fire, burglary or other emergencies.
Emergency call systems are known in which a person in distress can get immediate help. Specifically, in such systems, the person presses a button on a pendant which transmits a signal to an alarm in the person""s house. The alarm then sends a signal to a central station, and a person at the central station must then dial the telephone numbers from a prescribed list in order to obtain aid for the distressed person.
However, such an arrangement is relatively complicated and costly. Specifically, such arrangement operates in a similar manner to a central burglar or fire alarm in a house, and requires a separate, complicated wiring assembly for the house, at a considerable cost. Also, such a system requires that a central station be provided, and therefore, the subscriber to such a system must pay a monthly fee for such service, adding further to the cost of the system.
Also, a problem with known systems is that if a central station, upon calling a telephone number for aid, continuously receives a busy signal, the central station may stop calling after a number of attempts, so that the person in distress does not receive aid.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an emergency call system that overcomes the aforementioned problems with the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an emergency call system that eliminates the requirement for a central station.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an emergency call system that eliminates the requirement for a separate wiring of the persons house.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an emergency call system that can be used with a conventional telephone line.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an emergency call system that will continuously call predetermined telephone numbers until an acknowledgment is received.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an emergency call system that is inexpensive and easy to make, install and operate.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, an emergency call system by which a caller can automatically call a plurality of other parties to leave an emergency message, includes an emergency call unit comprising a memory for storing a plurality of telephone numbers to be called and at least one emergency message, an input/output device for connecting the emergency call unit for making a telephone call, at least one emergency key, and a microprocessor connected with the memory, the at least one emergency key and the input/output device for controlling storage of the plurality of telephone numbers to be called and the at least one emergency message in the memory, obtaining a dial tone for making a telephone call, after the dial tone is obtained, dialing the telephone numbers in sequence upon activation of at least one the emergency key, detecting each ring-back from each dialed telephone number, starting a transmit of the at least one emergency message to the dialed telephone number to automatically advise of an emergency after a predetermined time after the telephone number has been dialed and no busy signal has been detected during a predetermined time period, restarting the transmit of the at least one emergency message to the dialed telephone number to automatically advise of an emergency after detecting each ring-back from each dialed telephone number.
The microprocessor repeats the restarting of the transmit for each ring-back of each dialed telephone number until a predetermined number of ring-backs have been detected for each telephone number, and thereafter dials a next stored telephone number. Further, the microprocessor repeats the dialing of the telephone numbers and starting and restarting the transmit to the dialed telephone numbers, until at least one of all the read out telephone numbers have been dialed at least once, and a predetermined time has elapsed.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an emergency call system by which a caller can automatically call a plurality of other parties to leave an emergency message, includes an emergency call unit comprising a memory for storing a plurality of telephone numbers to be called and at least one emergency message, an input/output device for connecting the emergency call unit for making a telephone call, at least one emergency key, and a microprocessor connected with the memory, the at least one emergency key and the input/output device for controlling storage of the plurality of telephone numbers to be called and the at least one emergency message in the memory, obtaining a dial tone for making a telephone call, after the dial tone is obtained, dialing the telephone numbers in sequence upon activation of at least one the emergency key, detecting speech from each dialed telephone number, and starting a transmit of the at least one emergency message to the dialed telephone number to automatically advise of an emergency after detecting speech from each dialed telephone number.
The microprocessor repeats the step of dialing the telephone numbers and starting the transmit to the dialed telephone numbers, until at least one of all the read out telephone numbers have been dialed at least once, and a predetermined time has elapsed.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an emergency call system by which a caller can automatically call a plurality of other parties to leave an emergency message, includes an emergency call unit comprising a memory for storing a plurality of telephone numbers to be called and at least one emergency message, an input/output device for connecting the emergency call unit for making a telephone call, a first speaker and a first microphone through which a caller can communicate with the called party, a second speaker and a second microphone through which a called party can communicate with the caller, at least one emergency key, and a microprocessor connected with the memory, the at least one emergency key and the input/output device for controlling storage of the plurality of telephone numbers to be called and the at least one emergency message in the memory, obtaining a dial tone for making a telephone call, after the dial tone is obtained, dialing the telephone numbers in sequence upon activation of at least one the emergency key, starting a transmit of the at least one emergency message to each dialed telephone number to automatically advise of an emergency, and permitting oral communication between the caller and the called party through the speakers and microphones.
The microprocessor permits the oral communications between the caller and the called party activating at least one predetermined key through the speakers and microphones. In one mode, the microprocessor permits listening by the called party upon activation of one the predetermined key by the called party and permits speaking by the called party upon activation of another predetermined key by the called party.
In another mode, the microprocessor automatically controls speaking and listening between the caller and the called party to change over from one of the caller and the called party to the other of the caller and the called party after preset periods of time. There is further a decode device connected with the microprocessor for decoding keys activated by a called party.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an emergency call system by which a caller can automatically call a plurality of other parties to leave an emergency message, includes an emergency call unit comprising a memory for storing a plurality of telephone numbers to be called and at least one pager number to be called, and at least one emergency message, an input/output device for connecting the emergency call unit for making a telephone call, at least one emergency key, and a microprocessor connected with the memory, the at least one emergency key and the input/output device for controlling storage of the telephone numbers and the at least one pager number to be called such that a code is provided with the at least one pager number to differentiate from the telephone numbers, and the at least one emergency message in the memory, obtaining a dial tone for making a telephone call, after the dial tone is obtained, dialing the telephone numbers and the at least one pager number in sequence upon activation of at least one the emergency key, transmitting the at least one emergency message to each dialed telephone number to automatically advise of an emergency, and transmitting a telephone number of the caller to each dialed pager number to automatically advise of an emergency.
In this case, the at least one pager number is stored with a prefix code to distinguish the number as a pager number.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a call system by which a caller can automatically call a plurality of other parties to leave an emergency message, includes a call unit comprising a memory for storing a plurality of telephone numbers to be called, an input/output device for connecting the call unit for making a telephone call, a first speaker and a first microphone through which a caller can communicate with the called party, a second speaker and a second microphone through which a called party can communicate with the caller, at least one activation key, and a microprocessor connected with the memory, the at least one activation key and the input/output device for controlling storage of the plurality of telephone numbers to be called in the memory, obtaining a dial tone for making a telephone call, after the dial tone is obtained, dialing the telephone numbers in sequence upon activation of at least one the activation key, and permitting oral communication between the caller and the called party through the speakers and microphones.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.